Several conflicting
opinions exist regarding the meal that took place on the last night of Christ's
life. Many people believe that Jesus ate a Passover meal with his disciples, as
the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke appear to indicate. Others
disagree, pointing to John's Gospel, which clearly shows that this "last
supper" occurred before the Passover feast. Is there a way to
reconcile the two differing accounts? Can both accounts be correct?
To fully understand
this topic, let's examine the Gospel reports of Jesus’ final meal. First,
we'll look at John's account of the "last supper." Many scholars
believe that John wrote his Gospel late in the first century; long after the
Synoptic Gospels had been written. By the time John wrote, Gentiles likely
composed a significant portion of the Church.
Probably because of
the number of Gentile converts in the Church and the anti-Jewish bias that had
begun to take root, John's Gospel is different from the Synoptic Gospels. John
went to great lengths to emphasize Christ's heritage. He stressed that Jesus was
a Jew who routinely kept Jewish customs, including the observance of God's
commanded feast days (Lev. 23). John refers to at least three Passovers during
the ministry of Christ (John 2:13; 6:4; 19:14), including his final one. He also
mentions the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as Sukkot (John
7:2), the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles known to the Jews as Hoshanah
Rabbah (John 7:37), and the Feast of Dedication, commonly called Hanukkah
(John 10:22).
Let's review the
beginning of John's account of the "last supper," which is found in
chapter 13 of his Gospel:
JOHN 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover,
Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He should depart out of this world to
the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the
end. 2 And during supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas
Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had
given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was
going back to God, 4 rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a
towel, He girded Himself about. 5 Then He poured water into the basin, and began
to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was
girded. (NASU)
John shows that the
"last supper" took place on the same night Judas Iscariot betrayed
Christ (John 13:21-30). The first verse plainly states that this was
"before the feast of the Passover," which lasts for seven days (from
Nisan 15 through Nisan 21). John is obviously referring to the same night
described by the other three Gospel writers (Matt. 26; Mark 14; Luke 22). John
goes on to reiterate several times that these events took place before
Passover. Clearly, the Passover meal traditionally eaten on the evening of Nisan
15 had not yet been observed.
JOHN 13:21 When Jesus had said these things, He was
troubled in spirit, and testified and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you,
one of you will betray Me. 26 . . . It is he to whom I shall give
a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He
gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 Now after the piece of bread,
Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
28 But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. 29 For some
thought, because Judas had the moneybox, that Jesus had said to him, "Buy
those things we need for the Feast," or that he should give something
to the poor. 30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out
immediately. And it was night. (NKJV)
JOHN 18:28 Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the
Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the
Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.
(NKJV)
JOHN 19:14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the
Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he [Pilate]
said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" (NKJV)
JOHN 19:31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day,
that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that
Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be
broken, and that they might be taken away.
(NKJV)
JOHN 19:42 So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Preparation
Day, for the tomb was nearby. (NKJV)
The Jews reckoned
days from sunset to sunset. As you can see, John points out repeatedly that the
"last supper," the betrayal by Judas, and Jesus’ trial and
crucifixion all occurred before the Passover, on the Preparation Day. But
exactly when was the Preparation Day?
The New
Unger's Bible Dictionary says that the Preparation Day for the Passover was
from the evening (end) of Nisan 13 until the evening (end) of Nisan 14 (p. 411).
E.W. Bullinger, in Appendix 156 to The Companion Bible, states:
"Wednesday, Nisan 14th (commencing on Tuesday at sunset), was
'the preparation day', on which the crucifixion took place"
(p. 180).
As shown in John
19:31 above, the day following the Preparation Day was an annual high Sabbath,
the First Day of Unleavened Bread, which fell annually on Nisan 15. God
commanded the Israelites to observe this high Sabbath every year:
EXODUS 12:16 "On the first day there shall be a
holy convocation, and on the seventh day there shall be a holy convocation
for you. No manner of work shall be done on them; but that which everyone must
eat; that only may be prepared by you. 17 So you shall observe the Feast of
Unleavened Bread, for on this same day I will have brought your armies out of
the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day throughout your
generations as an everlasting ordinance." (NKJV)
LEVITICUS 23:6 "And on the fifteenth day of the
same month [Aviv or Abib, later called Nisan]
is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; seven days you must eat
unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation;
you shall do no customary work on it." (NKJV)
Now let's examine
the accounts of this event recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the Synoptic
Gospels and compare them with John's version.
MATTHEW 26:17 Now on the first day of the
Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to
Him, "Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the
Passover?" 18 And He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say
to him, 'The Teacher says, "My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at
your house with My disciples."' 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had
directed them; and they prepared the Passover [hetoimasan
to pascha]. 20 When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve.
21 Now as they were eating, He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you
will betray Me." (NKJV)
MARK 14:12 Now on the first day of Unleavened Bread,
when they killed the Passover lamb, His disciples said to Him, "Where
do You want us to go and prepare, that You may eat the Passover?" 13
And He sent out two of His disciples and said to them, "Go into the city,
and a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him. 14 Wherever he
goes in, say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says, "Where is
the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' 15
Then he will show you a large upper room, furnished and prepared; there
make ready for us." 16 So His disciples went out, and came into the
city, and found it just as He had said to them; and they prepared the
Passover [hetoimasan
to pascha]. 17 In the evening He came with the twelve. 18 Now as
they sat and ate, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, one of you who
eats with Me will betray Me." (NKJV)
LUKE 22:7 Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when
the Passover must be killed. 8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, "Go
and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat." 9 So they said to
Him, "Where do You want us to prepare?" 10 And He said to them,
"Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a
pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. 11 Then you shall
say to the master of the house, 'The Teacher says to you, "Where is the
guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?"' 12 Then he
will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready." 13
So they went and found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the
Passover [hetoimasan to pascha].
14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15
Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired [epithumia
epethumesa] to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I
say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of
God." (NKJV)
First, let's note
the timing of these events. Matthew says it was "the first of Unleavened
Bread." On the surface, this appears to contradict John's account, which
plainly states that the "last supper" occurred before the Feast of
Passover. However, Mark and Luke add an additional detail that helps clarify the
time. Mark says it was "the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they killed
the Passover"; Luke states it was "the day of Unleavened Bread when
the Passover must be killed."
The Bible tells us
in Exodus 12:6 that the Passover lambs were to be killed "between the
evenings" on the Nisan 14. The Jews have traditionally interpreted
"between the evenings" to mean "in the afternoon." For an
in-depth discussion of this phrase, refer to "What
Does 'Between the Evenings' Mean?" and "Exodus
12-When Was the First Passover?"
The Jews at the time
of Christ killed the Passover lambs on the afternoon of Nisan 14. In The
Wars of the Jews, Josephus records that in the first century, the
Passover lambs were slaughtered "from the ninth hour till the
eleventh"
(bk. 6, ch. 9, sec. 3), which corresponds to our 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Obviously, the day
Matthew and Mark call the "first day of Unleavened Bread" is the same
day that John calls the "the Preparation Day of the Passover." The
New Unger's Bible Dictionary says that the 14th of Nisan was "called
until the evening the preparation for the Passover"
(p. 411). As shown below, all three Synoptic Gospels confirm that Jesus was
crucified on the "Preparation Day," Nisan 14.
MATTHEW 27:62 On the next day [Nisan
15],
which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees
gathered together to Pilate. (NKJV)
MARK 15:42 Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation
Day, that is, the day before the [high] Sabbath, 15 Joseph of
Arimathea . . . went in to Pilate and asked for the body of
Jesus. (NKJV)
LUKE 23:54 That day was the Preparation, and the [high]
Sabbath drew near.
(NKJV)
Going back to the
Synoptic accounts of the meal, Matthew and Mark show that the disciples came to
Jesus just as the Preparation Day (Nisan 14) was beginning, which would have
been at sunset. They asked him where he wanted them to prepare to eat the
Passover meal, which would occur the next night (see John 18:28 above). Luke
records that in response to their question, Jesus instructed Peter and John how
to find the place where they should prepare to eat the Passover on the night of
Nisan 15. He told them the owner of the house would show them a large furnished
upper room. Mark and Luke both state that it was there, in that room,
that they were to prepare for the Passover (Mark 14:15; Luke 22:12).
As you can see from
all three accounts (Matt. 26:17; Mark 14:12; Luke 22:7-9), the disciples waited
until the beginning of Nisan 14 to ask Christ where to prepare the
Passover. If the time between sunset and dark on the 14th was the correct time
to slay the Passover lambs, as some erroneously teach, why would they have
waited so very late to question Christ about preparing for the meal? Or if the
Passover meal would not take place for at least another 24 hours, why would they
prepare for it that evening?
In Jacob Neusner's
translation of the Jewish Mishnah, we can see why the disciples
would have been concerned with preparing for the Passover that evening, even
though it wouldn't be eaten until the next night.
PESAHIM 1:3 A. R. Judah says, "They seek out
[leaven] (1) on the night of the fourteenth, (2) on the fourteenth in the
morning, and (3) at the time of removal." B. And sages say,
"[If] one did not seek out [leaven] on the night of the fourteenth, he may
seek it out (1) on the fourteenth. C. "If he did not seek it out on
the fourteenth, let him seek it out (2) at the appointed time [11 a.m. to 12
noon on the fourteenth]. D. "[If] he did not seek it out at the
appointed time, let him seek it out (3) after the appointed time [to
nightfall]."
(p. 230, The Mishnah: A New Translation)
The New
Unger's Bible Dictionary confirms how the Jews prepared for the observance of
the Passover:
On the evening of the 13th Nisan [as
that day ended and Nisan 14 began], which, until that of the 14th, was called the "preparation
for the Passover" (John 19:14), every head of a family searched for and
collected by the light of a candle all the leaven. Before beginning the search
he pronounced the following benediction: "Blessed art thou, O Lord our God,
King of the universe, who hast sanctified us with thy commandments, and hast
enjoined us to remove the leaven.' After the search he said, 'Whatever leaven
remains in my possession which I cannot see, behold, it is null, and accounted
as the dust of the earth'." (p. 411, "Festivals,")
The phrase
"prepare the Passover" found in Matthew 26:19, Mark 14:16, and Luke
22:13 comes from the Greek phrase hetoimasan to pascha. According
to Strong's Concordance, the root Greek verb hetoimazo
means "1) to make ready, prepare 1a) to make the necessary
preparations, get everything ready . . . drawn from the oriental
custom of sending on before kings on their journeys persons to level the roads
and make them passable." Clearly, the reason the disciples questioned Jesus about where
they were going to eat the Passover meal was because Jewish custom required that
the location be prepared by removing the leaven from it on the night of Nisan
14.
As mentioned
earlier, the Jews ate the Passover meal on the night of Nisan 15, which was the
beginning of the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Exodus 12:15 commands the Israelites
to remove all leaven from their dwellings and prescribes the penalty for eating
leavened bread during this feast.
EXODUS 12:15 "For a seven-day period shall you eat
matzos [unleavened bread], but on the previous day [the
Preparation Day] you shall nullify the leaven from your homes; for anyone
who eats leavened food - that soul shall be cut off from Israel, from the first
day [Nisan 15] to the seventh day [Nisan 21]."
(Stone Edition Tanach)
When the disciples
questioned Christ about where they were going to eat the Passover meal the next
night, they still did not fully understand that he would be dead then!
Christ would not be able to eat the Passover because he was destined to be
sacrificed as our Passover (I Cor. 5:7). But instead of explaining then
that he would be in the grave when the time came to eat the Passover lamb, he
simply told them where to prepare to eat the Passover meal. After Peter
and John had deleavened the room and made ready for the upcoming feast, Christ
used their final meal together on the night of the 14th to instruct his
disciples one last time before his death.
Luke 22:15 has been
used to support the assertion that Christ and his disciples ate the Passover
meal. In this Scripture, Jesus says "With fervent desire I have desired
to eat this Passover with you before I suffer." The Greek phrase translated "with
fervent desire I have desired" is epithumia epethumesa. It literally means
"with desire I desired."
The first word of
this phrase, epithumia, is a noun. According to the Exegetical
Dictionary of the New Testament, usually this word "
has the ambivalent sense, desire, strive for, long to have/do/be
something."
It can also be "used for (forbidden) desire "
(p. 27, vol. 2). Christ uses epithumia in this sense in
Luke 22:15.
In the article
"The Lord's Supper," the New Bible Dictionary says that
". . . Lk. 22:15 may be read as an unfulfilled
wish" (p.
707). Christ truly longed to eat that coming Passover with his disciples, but
his desire could not be realized! It was forbidden because it would have
destroyed the plan of God, since Christ was destined to be sacrificed as our
Passover lamb on the afternoon before the Passover meal.
In his Bible
translation, Ferrar Fenton accurately captures the meaning of Christ's words in
these verses:
LUKE 22:15 "And He said to them: 'I have longingly
desired [epithumia epethumesa] to eat this Passover
with you before My suffering; 16 however, I tell you that I shall not
eat of it, until it can be administered in the Kingdom of God.'"
(The Holy Bible in Modern English)
The meal that Jesus
and the disciples ate was obviously a prepatory meal, not the Passover meal
itself. Jewish scholar David H. Stern writes of this meal:
The Last Supper is considered by most scholars to have been a
Passover meal or Seder. Many Pesach themes are deepened,
reinforced and given new levels of meaning by events in the life of Jesus
the Messiah and by his words on this night. However, Joseph Shulam has suggested
that it may not have been the Seder but a se'udat-mitzvah, the
celebratory banquet accompanying performance of a commandment such as a wedding
or b'rit-milah.
Here is the background for his
argument. When a rabbi and his students finish studying a tractate of the
Talmud, they celebrate with a se'udat-mitzvah (also called a se'udat-siyum,
'banquet of completion,' i.e., graduation). The Fast of the Firstborn,
expressing gratitude for the saving of Israel's firstborn sons from the tenth
plague, has been prescribed for the day before Pesach, Nisan 14, at least
since Mishnaic times. When it is necessary to eat a se'udat-mitzvah, this
takes precedence over a fast. With a modicum of foresight a rabbi can plan to
complete a tractate on Nisan 14 and thus avoid having to fast; doing so is not
construed as cheating, and in fact it has become the custom.
The tradition of the Fast of the
Firstborn dates at least from Mishnaic times. But, Shulam reasons, if it goes
back a couple of centuries more to the time of Jesus, and if the si'udat-siyum
custom applied in the first century to the completing of any course of study,
then Jesus might have arranged to have himself and his talmidim
finish reading a book of the Tanakh on Nisan 14. Or, since Jesus
knew he was going to die, he may have regarded it as appropriate to complete his
disciples' earthly "course of study" with a banquet. This solution
would also resolve the perceived conflict between Yochanan [John] and the
Synoptic Gospels over the timing of the Last Supper.
(p. 77, Jewish New Testament Commentary)
In The
Companion Bible comment on Luke 22:15, Bullinger states that the last
supper Christ and the disciples ate was "not the eating of the Lamb,
but the Chagigah or feast which preceded it . . ."
(p. 1500). He goes on to explain that "it follows, therefore, that the Lord being crucified
on 'the preparation day' could not have eaten of the Passover lamb, which was
not slain until the evening of the 14th of Nisan (i.e. afternoon). . . .
Thus it is clear, that . . . no 'Passover lamb' could have been
eaten at the 'last supper' on the previous evening"
(p. 180, Appendix 156).
None of the four
Gospels mentions a lamb being eaten at the "last supper." The time had
not yet come to slay the Passover when Christ and his disciples ate their last
meal together.
In addition,
Deuteronomy 16:2, 5-6 shows that the disciples would have also had a problem
with where to slay a Passover lamb, had they desired to kill one.
DEUTERONOMY 16:2 Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the
passover unto the Lord thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which
the Lord shall choose to place his name there. 5 Thou mayest not
sacrifice the passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth
thee: 6 But at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name
in, there thou shalt sacrifice the passover at even, at the going down of the
sun, at the season [Aviv, see Deu. 16:1] that thou camest forth
out of Egypt. (KJV)
God, through Moses,
gives instructions regarding the proper place to sacrifice the Passover in this
Scripture. As shown above, God did not allow that the Israelites to sacrifice
the Passover anywhere they wanted, but only at the place where He chose to put
His name. During Christ's life, the Temple in Jerusalem was the place where God
had placed His name, and that's where the Jews slew the Passover lambs in
accordance with this command.
Raymond F. McNair of
the Global Church of God writes in his article "When Should the True
Passover Be Observed?" that Christ's disciples "certainly
could not have gone into the Temple at the beginning of the 14th of Abib to have
the priests and Levites assist them in the sacrifice of their Passover lambs.
Why not? Simply because the Jews (who then controlled the Temple ritual) would
not have permitted anyone to kill their Passover lambs approximately 21 hours
before they allowed, and supervised, the killing of Passover lambs in the court
of the Temple!" (p. 11, Global Church News, March-April 1996,).
Christ and his
disciples obviously could not have eaten a Passover lamb with their meal that
night. The Scriptures clearly state that Christ was our Passover (I Cor. 5:7).
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record that Christ died at the ninth hour (3:00
p.m.). This is the same time that Josephus records the slaughter of the Passover
lambs commenced. Christ fulfilled the symbolism of the Passover lambs exactly by
giving his life just as the unblemished Passover lambs began to be slain on the
14th of Nisan!
We can see that the
Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) do not conflict with John's account of
the "last supper" when understood correctly. A careful study of all
four Gospels shows that Jesus and the disciples did not eat the Passover
meal. There was no way they could have, since the time had not yet come to
sacrifice the Passover lambs. They simply prepared for the Passover by
deleavening the location they planned to use for the Feast. Afterward they ate
some type of celebratory or prepatory meal on the evening of Nisan 14. At this
supper, Jesus instituted the New Covenant symbols of the bread and wine. After
the meal, Judas Iscariot rose and left to betray Christ. When approached with an
open mind and the belief that the Scriptures cannot be broken (John 10:35), we can
reconcile all these accounts.
Huie August
22, 1997
Edited 9/1/04 Rev. JW